Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban)
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| Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) |
| Founder | Narendra Modi |
| Formed | 2014 |
| Jurisdiction | India |
| Parent agency | Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs |
Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) is a nationwide initiative launched in 2014 to accelerate urban sanitation in India. It aimed to eliminate open defecation, improve solid waste management, and upgrade urban sanitation infrastructure across municipalities, linking to national programs such as Smart Cities Mission and interacting with institutions like the NITI Aayog and the World Bank. The programme operated through central ministries, state governments such as Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Karnataka, and municipal bodies including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and the Delhi Municipal Corporation.
Background and Objectives
The programme was announced by Narendra Modi on 2 October 2014, referencing themes from Mahatma Gandhi's sanitation advocacy and aligning with targets in the Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. Primary objectives included achieving universal access to household toilets in urban localities, eliminating open defecation across municipal wards, and establishing systems for scientific processing of municipal solid waste, coordinated with agencies such as the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and state urban development departments in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Secondary goals involved behavioral change campaigns modeled on campaigns like Total Sanitation Campaign and linked to data platforms used by National Informatics Centre.
Implementation and Institutional Framework
Implementation relied on a federated structure involving central ministries, state urban departments, municipal corporations, and expert bodies like the Central Public Health and Environmental Engineering Organisation. Administrative coordination occurred via the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and advisory inputs from bodies such as the World Health Organization and the Asian Development Bank. Funding and technical guidelines were distributed to urban local bodies including the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, with oversight mechanisms drawing on precedent from programs like the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission and institutions like the Reserve Bank of India for fiscal monitoring.
Infrastructure and Technologies
Sanitation infrastructure under the mission included household toilets, community toilets, decentralized sewage treatment systems, and materials recovery facilities, integrating technologies promoted by agencies such as the Central Pollution Control Board and firms engaged with Bengaluru's fecal sludge management pilots. Innovations included septic tank standardization, bio-digesters, and composting units influenced by case studies from Pune, Surat, and Gurgaon. Solid waste interventions applied mechanical sweeping equipment, material recovery facilities modeled on examples from Indore and Vadodara, and digital tracking using platforms similar to those developed by the National Institute of Urban Affairs and the National Informatics Centre.
Community Participation and Behaviour Change
Behavior change campaigns were central, using mass communication strategies drawing on precedent from Swachh Bharat Abhiyan messaging, celebrity endorsements involving figures linked to Bollywood and sports personalities, and community mobilization by local NGOs analogous to those working with Pratham and SEWA. Initiatives engaged resident welfare associations in New Delhi Municipal Council areas, slum federations in Kolkata, and federated mahila sanghas to promote toilet adoption and waste segregation. Educational outreach collaborated with institutions such as the Central Board of Secondary Education and municipal schools, while corporate social responsibility partnerships involved companies reporting to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
Monitoring, Evaluation, and Outcomes
Monitoring combined self-reporting by urban local bodies with third-party verification mechanisms similar to those used by the National Sample Survey Office and independent audits by entities like state audit departments. Dashboards aggregated data akin to systems used by the Unique Identification Authority of India for beneficiary tracking, while evaluation studies were conducted by academic partners in universities such as Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and policy research organizations including the Indian Council of Social Science Research and international evaluators like the World Bank. Reported outcomes cited increases in household toilet coverage in cities like Ahmedabad and Pune and improvements in waste collection in Indore, though measurement controversies involved comparisons with surveys from the National Family Health Survey.
Funding and Financial Mechanisms
Financing combined central grants administered by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, state matching funds from treasuries in Rajasthan and Telangana, and municipal revenue generation through property tax reform initiatives influenced by examples from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. External financing and technical assistance came from multilateral institutions such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, while private sector engagement and public–private partnership models were deployed in service contracts with sanitation enterprises operating in Gurugram and Bengaluru. Performance-linked incentives and capacity building grants followed frameworks akin to those used in the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation.
Challenges and Criticisms
Critiques emerged from researchers at institutions like Centre for Policy Research and Tata Institute of Social Sciences regarding issues of sustainability, fecal sludge management, and equitable service delivery in informal settlements such as those in Mumbai and Kolkata. Operational challenges included maintenance of community toilets in Varanasi, governance capacity gaps in small municipal councils, and discrepancies between administrative reporting and household survey data collected by organizations such as the National Family Health Survey and academic teams from IIT Delhi. Civil society commentators pointed to concerns about prioritization of visible infrastructure over systemic sewage networks and the need for integration with urban planning led by bodies like the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and state urban development authorities.